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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22622161">From The Beginning</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissMonsters2/pseuds/MissMonsters2'>MissMonsters2</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, F/F, Romance, fem!reader - Freeform</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 00:40:47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,583</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22622161</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissMonsters2/pseuds/MissMonsters2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>[From Tumblr]</p><p>Pairing: Natasha Romanoff x Fem!Reader/OFC</p><p>Prompt Request: Anonymous<br/>- 16: Did you enjoy it? Making a fool out of me.<br/>- 19: You broke my heart.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Natasha Romanov/Reader, natasha Romanoff/reader, natasha romanoff/you, natasha romanov/you</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>117</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Natasha Romanoff Reader Inserts</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>From The Beginning</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Notes: This was an incredibly hard challenge with these dialogue prompts and a happy ending LOL I hope you like it (this is probably as about as happy as it can get).</p><p>Warnings: mentions of past abusive relationships.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There was something off about your girlfriend, but you couldn’t be sure of what it was. You had been dating Natasha for almost a year now, and everything had been as good as you could expect it.</p><p>You guys definitely had some rough patches here and there, but that was because you had been through some really shitty relationships. You’ve been used, manipulated, and cheated on before, so you were a little cautious when dating. </p><p>You had met Natasha at the police station when you were filing a restraining order against your ex because he would seriously not leave you alone and has taken to standing outside your house at all hours. </p><p>It was freaking you out, thus the restraining order.</p><p>Just as you had just finished the application, the door opened to the station, and in came your ex with a black eye and a couple scratches. Behind him was a drop-dead gorgeous redhead. She was chewing gum, scowling at your ex.</p><p>A policeman came up to her to get the details and was cuffing your ex before you could even say anything.</p><p>The redhead looked over at you and raised her brow. “You’re the girl that he kept trailing.”</p><p>Still shocked, you nodded dumbly. The police were telling you that he caught dealing some drugs and started a fight with the redhead over there. He was most likely going to do some time and asked if you wanted to file a restraining order still.</p><p>The redhead cut in, saying you still should. She was leaving after, and you turned your head to the officer and asked him to file it before running off to chase after her.</p><p>She was surprised when you stopped her and asked if you could at least buy her coffee for, in a way, saving you. </p><p>It was a long shot. You could see her being the distant type, but to your surprise, she said yes. </p><p>That’s how it all started. You honestly hadn’t really expected anything of it after the first coffee and getting to know each other a little bit. But then you kept seeing her everywhere.</p><p>At the coffee shop, at the grocery store, at the park. Hell, she even showed up at the yoga studio you go to often.</p><p>It weirded you the hell out, but she looked equally as surprised to see you every time. When you had asked her what brought her to this specific studio, she mumbled about it being mandated or recommended. </p><p>Even then, you still didn’t really think anything of it. You were okay with a friendship with Natasha. At least she seemed honest and upfront, which you appreciated. </p><p>There was a routine in your friendship. Get coffee in the morning, go your separate ways for work, grab lunch together, head to the yoga studio in the evening, and maybe watch a movie at night.</p><p>Obviously, there were days you couldn’t see her, but it never bothered you. </p><p>So, one day when you were grabbing drinks together, and some douchey guy kept trying to get your attention and pull you onto the dance floor with him, you turned to Natasha to ask if you could go home now. </p><p>But she was kissing you, pulling you into her soft embrace, and glaring at the guy until he left. </p><p>“Why did you do that?” You asked softly. </p><p>Natasha looked at you, trying to gauge your reaction to it, but you didn’t show anything.</p><p>She still held you in her embrace, softly trailing her fingers down your arm to lace your fingers together.</p><p>“Be mine,” she whispered softly in your ear. It was the way that she said it that made your heart flutter. </p><p>Now, there were definitely times where the two of you fought. In the beginning, you were kind of waiting for the other shoe to drop. You were waiting for everything to go downhill, that she would yell at you if something were wrong, or guilt-trip you into getting her way, or even cheat on you.</p><p>Natasha made it very clear that isn’t who she was and for you to hold yourself back waiting on that would doom them. </p><p>Sometimes you fought because you were 99.99% sure that Natasha was hiding something from you. </p><p>You were a novelist, so sometimes the smallest detail would catch your attention.</p><p>And she was. </p><p>Four months in and she let you know that she was an Avenger. </p><p>Then the fights would shift into being with her could cause you harm, and maybe it was better to split up. </p><p>The point is that every time you fought, there was a lead-up to it and you made up every time.</p><p>That’s why you knew there was something off with Natasha. You wrote trashy romance novels (not because you were entirely into them, but it pays well), and you literally wrote all these situations out.</p><p>Natasha had been quiet, distant, and unfocused when the two of you were together.</p><p>Then there were the late nights out and which she would always say it was because of work. It wasn’t like you could confirm it anyways with her being a secret spy and all.</p><p>You even tried to pick a fight with her once, but she just wouldn’t respond to your bait. </p><p>You tried to not think of the worst possible scenario, which was she was cheating on you because you had already gone through this. You didn’t want your insecurities from past relationships to carry over into this one, especially since you’ve been dating for a year. </p><p>You convinced yourself you were just being insecure, maybe even a little crazy. Natasha was a wonderful girlfriend. She was attentive towards you, gave you affection when you needed it, and gave you space when you needed it. </p><p>The sex was great too.</p><p>There was nothing to worry about, you told yourself. </p><p>It really just was work. She’s busy saving the world. She’s seen shit that would probably make you vomit. </p><p>So, of course, sometimes she would just be distant or unfocused. People have different ways of getting their shit together, who were you to judge?</p><p>You took a deep breath and let it out slowly. </p><p>Today, you were going to surprise her at the tower. You had brought her favorite lunch and everything, hoping to cheer your girlfriend up. </p><p>“Hey, Happy,” you greeted with a soft smile, and the security guard returned it to you.</p><p>“Hey, here to see Natasha?” He asked. You nodded, holding up your bagged lunch. </p><p>“Oh, I almost forgot.” You opened the lunch up and grabbed a sandwich out and held it to Happy.</p><p>“I made some extra cutlets, thought I might give you one.”</p><p>Happy took the sandwich with a huge grin, giving you a thankful look.</p><p>“Extra sauce?” He asked.</p><p>“Is there any other way?” You replied, and Happy let out an excited, ‘yes!’ before letting you pass.</p><p>You made your way to her office but found it empty. You were about to ask JARVIS where she might be when you bumped into Steve.</p><p>“Oh, hey, Steve,” you said, giving him a brief hug in greeting. </p><p>Steve hugged you back with a bit of a pat before letting you go.</p><p>“Hey, here to see Nat?” He asked, eyeing the bagged lunch in your hand. </p><p>You nodded but looked sheepish. “Yep! Sorry, didn’t pack any for you.”</p><p>Steve jokingly looked crushed but then laughed, “That’s alright, guess you’ll just have to bring me some next time. I think Natasha is in the training room with Clint. Want me to let her know you’re on your way over?”</p><p>You shook your head, “No, I’ll surprise her. Thanks!”</p><p>Giving him a quick wave, you made your way to the training room instead. </p><p>You were already starting to feel a little better. Maybe you were just being a little crazy. </p><p>You were approaching the training room, and you could see your girlfriend through the window of the door as she took down Clint.</p><p>Just about as you were about to enter, Clint started to speak. </p><p>“Okay, so now that you’ve taken me down a couple times, you ready to talk?”</p><p>Natasha huffed as she got up and adjusted her tank top.</p><p>“Not really,” she said sullenly. </p><p>Clint took his friend to sit at the edge of the ring where they had their legs hanging and arms on the ropes. </p><p>“What’s the matter lately? You’ve been spending all your hours at work, and we don’t have any missions.”</p><p>Your heart drops when you hear that. The sense of dread clouds over but you force yourself to listen on (because you can’t stand it when you read a book, and this happens, and the main character leaves before hearing an explanation).</p><p>Natasha is twirling the ends of her hand wraps and then sighs. “I don’t want to go home. If I go home, then my girlfriend is there, and I can’t see her right now.”</p><p>Your cheeks tinge a bit red when you hear that, because ouch? You don’t think you’re that bad of company. </p><p>“Why not? Just a couple weeks ago you were fine.” Clint asks.</p><p>Natasha is rubbing her temples before she looks at Clint with a guilty expression.</p><p>“I did something bad.”</p><p>Your jaw is clenching, that feeling is knawing at your gut again, but you hold on. Everything has a reasonable explanation. </p><p>Clint sighs, pursing his lip at his friend. “What did you do, Nat?”</p><p>Natasha is back to playing with her hand wrap again. “You know Tanya?”</p><p>Clint scrunches his eyebrows as he tries to recall who she’s talking about.</p><p>“You mean from…legal?” Clint asks, a little unsure. He had only seen her a couple times, she mostly worked with Tony.</p><p>Natasha nodded. “Well, a couple of weeks ago, she came to me for help because Tony told her that I used to work in her position and she needed a little help with some of the forms and policies.”</p><p>“Okay?” Clint said, unsure where this was going.</p><p>“Well,” Natasha murmured. “She kept coming to me every time she needed help, I felt bad, so I kept helping her.”</p><p>Clint scrunched his eyebrows together in confusion. “Okay? Just tell Tony to tell her that she needs to ask her manager for help. Or ask Pepper.”</p><p>“That’s not the problem,” Natasha said, putting her head in her hands. “The problem is that we almost slept together.”</p><p>Clint started coughing as he swallowed his spit wrong. “What?!”</p><p>Natasha scrunched her eyes closed as she sighed.</p><p>“What the hell, Nat? Why did you guys almost sleep together? I thought everything was going perfect with your girlfriend!” Clint asked his friend, a tone of disappointment in his voice. </p><p>You were lovely, in his opinion. Good for Natasha in a way you were both patient and didn’t take any shit.</p><p>“I don’t know. One moment I was helping her with a legal form and then the next we were kissing, and she was stripping on my desk.” Natasha recalled.</p><p>You were standing outside the door, back against the wall with your hand over your mouth as you tried to hide the sob that desperately wanted to escape. </p><p>“When I realized what was happening, I stopped it. I haven’t seen Tanya since then, but now I can’t go home.”</p><p>“Why did you even let it get that far? Are you actually not happy?” Clint asked, worry in his tone. </p><p>Natasha shook her head. “No, everything is going perfect. I don’t know…I guess I just doubted my feelings.”</p><p>You suddenly understood every main character in the books and why they left. It was just breaking your heart to listen to Natasha explain why she cheated on you.</p><p>You didn’t think you could keep quiet anymore, but there was no way in hell you were ready to face Natasha either. </p><p>As quietly as you could, you gathered the strength to your feet and walked off to leave the training area. </p><p>The tears were already furiously welling up in your eyes as you walked off as quickly as you could to leave the tower. </p><p>You hit something hard and stumbled back a little bit.</p><p>Steve had his hands on your shoulders to steady you and keep you from falling.</p><p>“Sor–what’s wrong?” He asked, rather alarmed at seeing your red eyes and tears built up.</p><p>You looked at Steve and heard the question, and it was like the dam just opened.</p><p>You choked on a sob, hand to your mouth as your legs gave out. Steve immediately caught you, eyes wide as his heart thudded in his chest as he looked at the overflowing tears down your cheek.</p><p>He had never seen you cry. Throughout all the fights you ever had with Natasha, you had never cried.</p><p>Even when your ex got out of prison early and broke into your home, you didn’t cry when you called the police for help.</p><p>You didn’t even cry when the police called the tower knowing who you were and Steve had to help you get stitches (Steve had to stop Natasha from committing murder, but he was quite tempted to help her).</p><p>So, seeing you here, sobbing in his chest with your shoulders violently shaking concerned him considerably. </p><p>You heard footsteps down the hallway and peeked out to see Natasha and Clint making their way towards you.</p><p>You tensed immediately, and Steve felt it.</p><p>Natasha had exited the room with Clint, feeling better about their conversation and knew what she needed to do. At the main entrance, they both saw you in Steve’s arms with your shoulders shaking, and alarm bells immediately started going off in her head.</p><p>She approached you, calling your name softly but you didn’t turn to look at her. So, Natasha gently put her hand on your shoulder to gather you from Steve’s arms, but the moment she touched you, you turned around and slapped her hand away.</p><p>You looked at her, eyes narrowed in anger with your brows pinched together as the tears kept flowing. </p><p>But it was like just looking at Natasha broke you further, unable to keep that expression as you choked on another sob, turning away with your eyes closed. </p><p>You took a deep breath, turning back and pushing your bagged lunch into her hands.</p><p>You didn’t look at anyone else as you turned back around and started to make your way out again. You didn’t say anything to Happy as he called out to you, just knowing you needed to get to your car. </p><p>Steve looked at Natasha in confusion and Clint sighed, rubbing his hands over his face as he knew already what must’ve happened.</p><p>Natasha felt dread in her heart at the way you had looked at her, had slapped her hand away from touching you. She opened the lunch bag to see her favorite sandwich inside and a small note.</p><p>Taking the note out, she really felt her heart drop as she read it.</p><p>Hey babe,</p><p>Sorry if I’ve been annoyingly clingy the last couple of weeks. Just been getting crazy thoughts, but you’ve been such an amazing girlfriend. </p><p>Always on your side.</p><p>Love you</p><p>It signed your name at the bottom. Steve had caught a glimpse of the note and looked at Natasha.</p><p>The guilt in her eyes made Steve clench his jaw as he turned around and ran out to catch up to you. </p><p>He caught you just as you were getting into your car.</p><p>“Wait!” Steve called, holding onto your door before you could get in and shut it.</p><p>You were still crying as you clenched the top of your car door.</p><p>“Wait,” Steve said again, “I don’t know what Natasha did, but you need to come back in to talk about it. Whatever it is, you can work it out.”</p><p>You shook your head, trying to get into your car and shut the door but Steve would not let you. </p><p>“You can–”</p><p>“She cheated on me, Steve!” You shouted, feeling the embarrassment leak in as you did.</p><p>It was silent for a moment. Steve didn’t know what to say. Of all the things he thought could’ve happened, this wasn’t it.</p><p>You looked at Steve, and it broke his heart to see how defeated you looked.</p><p>“She cheated on me weeks ago. I’m sure there are many explanations for it, but I can’t listen to any of it right now. Do you know how stupid I feel right now?” You stuttered slightly as you were trying to catch your breath.</p><p>You looked at Steve, who just stared at you with his jaw clenched and lips in a tight line.</p><p>“So, can you please let me go and so I can at least cry and feel stupid in the sanctuary of my own home?”</p><p>Steve looked at you for a moment more before letting go of your car door. You were about to get in and shut the door before Steve grabbed on again.</p><p>You were so close to just exploding when you looked at Steve.</p><p>“Let me drive you home at least,” Steve said, worried that you would cry on the way home and your tears would block your vision, and therefore, you would get into a car crash and die.</p><p>He held his hand out, and you sighed before giving him your keys and walked over to the passenger side.</p><p>⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⋆⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷</p><p>Steve had helped you into your house and into your room before he said he would check in on you soon and left. </p><p>You cried frustratingly hard when he left. </p><p>You never felt heartbreak like you did right now. It was like someone was squeezing your heart and your mind couldn’t help but replay everything Natasha said. </p><p>God, you were so stupid.</p><p>Here you were, trying to make excuses for Natasha’s behavior, telling yourself you’re crazy.</p><p>But she had almost slept with someone else and then hid it from you for weeks.</p><p>Were you that bad of a girlfriend? Did you treat her like shit? Is that why she doubted her feelings for you?</p><p>You just felt like there was something wrong with you. It has to be you, otherwise, how could every person you date treat you like shit?</p><p>You stayed in bed the entire night. Sometime later in the middle of the night, you had heard banging on your door.</p><p>“Baby, I know you’re home. Please open the door,” It was Natasha’s mumbled voice through the door you heard, but you ignored it. </p><p>Minutes later you heard tapping on your bedroom window, but with your curtains shut, Natasha couldn’t see through it. </p><p>“Please open up, I really need to talk to you,” Natasha was pleading through the window, but you had merely watched her silhouette silently.</p><p>It had gone on for an hour of Natasha asking you to let her in, but you had ignored her, putting on your headphones before turning the other way. </p><p>It was stupid, you thought. Even though she had cut you deeply, you were still hanging on. She couldn’t break up with you if you didn’t let her in. </p><p>⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⋆⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷</p><p>You didn’t leave your bed for weeks. Steve was smart enough to steal your keys when he dropped you off and made himself a copy so he could check on you.</p><p>“That’s kind of fucked up,” you comment into your pillow when Steve told you.</p><p>“Yeah, well, language, first of all. Secondly, as your friend, I need to check on you.” He was cleaning up your strewn clothes on the floor as he said that. </p><p>You hadn’t really had the appetite to eat, and Steve demanded that you eat, even if it was soup.</p><p>He dragged you out of bed and made you go shower before having you sit in the kitchen as he made you some hearty soup. </p><p>It was currently nighttime since Steve had meetings and other work stuff he had to do during the day, but you had appreciated his kindness nonetheless. </p><p>He was in the middle of ladling soup in your bowl before he heard knocking on your door. Steve went to open it, but you stopped him by grabbing his arm.</p><p>“Don’t,” you say quietly. “It’s her at the door.”</p><p>Steve furrowed his brows together, and true enough, Natasha’s voice rang through the door.</p><p>“Steve! Open up, I know you’re in there with her!” It was accompanied by knocking on the door.</p><p>Now the both of you knew that she had been trailing him. Steve looked a little unhappy at that but still felt awkward that you wanted him to ignore her through the door. </p><p>You both ate your meal in relative silence, mostly because Natasha had still been knocking. You were pretty sure she was contemplating breaking in, but maybe she refrained herself knowing Steve was here. </p><p>Also, you had previous experiences with exes breaking.</p><p>Was she an ex?</p><p>“How often does she stand out there?” Steve asked. He usually came in the day time, so this hadn’t happened before.</p><p>You shrug, putting more soup into your mouth. “Every day. Sometimes an hour, sometimes three, sometimes all night. Guess it depends on how much times she has. She’ll move the bedroom window eventually.”</p><p>Steve’s eyes widen at the response, quickly looking at the door before back at you.</p><p>You were staring at the TV, but it was apparent you weren’t even watching it. He grabbed your bowl to put it down with a sigh.</p><p>“I think you should talk to her,” Steve said.</p><p>You sighed, pressing your palm your eye to relieve the headache.</p><p>“I know,” you whisper.</p><p>The two of you rarely discuss Natasha. You don’t ask him how she’s doing or if she’s said anything about you.</p><p>He tries not to bring up what happened as he can see the pain it causes, but he didn’t think you could let it go on like it has.</p><p>Steve put his arm on your shoulder, bringing you into a one-arm hug and patted your arm comfortingly. “Whatever happens, I’ll still be your friend and support you. Just talk to her first, she obviously really wants to. I’ll get her to give you some time to think.”</p><p>You nodded as he got up to wash the dishes as you headed back into your room to lie down. </p><p>You could hear him open the door and Natasha’s voice.</p><p>“Why the hell are you at my girlfriend’s so often?” She asked, almost accusingly at him, and you rolled your eyes.</p><p>“To make sure she eats and does normal things after you hurt her,” Steve said, and you could picture her wincing as he said that. </p><p>“You can’t keep standing here knocking at her door and window, Nat. Give her some space.” </p><p>You heard a little more bickering, but eventually, the door closed, and the footsteps were leading away.</p><p>It was quiet that night. </p><p>In a way, you felt peace. But maybe you had grown used to her presence through your door and window.</p><p>If you were really honest, you would just say you did miss her. </p><p>As you were in bed that night, staring at the ceiling, you resolved yourself to stop moping around. </p><p>You needed to live your life too, with or without her. </p><p>⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⋆⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷</p><p>Your life had returned to normal for a couple days. You got up, got coffee, worked on your novel, got lunch, went to the yoga studio, ate dinner, worked on your book some more, and even watched some shows at night. </p><p>It felt like shit, but you were surviving at least.</p><p>Natasha had stopped knocking on your door and window, so it did give you some time to think over everything. </p><p>It wasn’t until the end of the week that you decided it was time to talk to her. </p><p>You went back to the tower, Happy greeting you worriedly since you hadn’t shown up for a long time and was crying the last time you left.</p><p>It did spark some gossip.</p><p>“Natasha?” He asked, and you nodded. He told you what floor and room she was on. It was late at night, but apparently, she was still in the training room by herself. </p><p>You felt slightly nauseous as you made your way to the training room. You could see her, the same way you did the last time you were here, except this time, she was boxing with a punching bag. </p><p>She had worked up a slight sweat as she aggressively punched the bag hard enough to get it swinging. She pulled a combination of moves before hitting it one last time.</p><p>She stood back, sighing frustratedly as she ripped off her hand wraps and threw them on the ground.</p><p>You bit your lip for a moment before you opened the door and walked in. Natasha immediately turned around and saw you, shocked.</p><p>“Hey,” you greeted, internally rolling your eyes at how lame you sounded.</p><p>“Hey,” Natasha swallowed. </p><p>You looked around the empty training room, swinging your legs slightly before sighing.</p><p>“I think we should talk,” you tell her. Natasha nods as you make your way over to her.</p><p>“I’m sorry,” you said at first, and Natasha looked wholeheartedly confused. “I knew you wanted to talk about it right away, but I was so hurt that I ignored you on purpose to hurt you.”</p><p>Natasha nodded rigidly again but tried to relax her shoulders and uncrossed her arms.</p><p>You didn’t really know how to bring it up because it was obvious the both of you knew that you were there that day.</p><p>“You cheated on me,” you said, feeling the pain cross over and your throat closing up a little as you said it. </p><p>Natasha clenched her jaw, closing her eyes for a moment before she opened it.</p><p>“I did,” she admitted, and you felt your heart break all over again.</p><p>“But I didn’t mean to,” Natasha said, and you scoffed.</p><p>“No one means to cheat, Natasha. You don’t wake up one morning saying, ‘oh, today I feel like betraying the trust of my partner and destroy them.’ But it’s still a choice you make.”</p><p>You thought you were done crying, but the burning in the back of your eyes told you otherwise.</p><p>“It was a mistake, I stopped as soon as I realized.”</p><p>“Yes, right after you were about to sleep with her,” you bitterly recalled. </p><p>“Cheating is not a mistake, Nat. I would never be able to do that to you. I couldn’t kiss another person without thinking of your tear stained lips on mine. I get that sometimes you have missions where you need to play a certain role, but that wasn’t the case. This was some girl from legal that you work with.” </p><p>You were pacing back and forth while Natasha just stood there. You turned back, hand running through your hair.</p><p>“I just–why? Why did you do that to me? If you were having doubts, you could’ve just talked to me, asked for a break, or even just break up. Do you know how I felt finding that out? I kept wondering what the hell might be wrong with me. Am I not enough?”</p><p>“No, baby, that’s not–”</p><p>“Well, there has to be something wrong with me. You were keeping this from me for weeks! You kept coming home to me, late at night, while I tried to love you. I kept making excuses for why you were treating me like this, trying to convince myself that I’m just being annoying. Yet, you were getting fresh with Tanya from legal.”</p><p>You were crying again, and it was breaking Natasha’s heart to see you cry.</p><p>Wiping your tears away angrily, you glared at her. “Did you enjoy it? Making a fool out of me. How stupid you must’ve thought I was.”</p><p>Natasha finally has had enough and walked over and grabbed you by the shoulder to pull you into an embrace. You’re trying to push her away, but she’s way stronger than you, and she’s not about to let you go.</p><p>“No, I–baby, I’m the stupid one. I’ve never had someone before. I just got worried that the feelings I have for you was just because this is new to me. But the moment I got with Tanya, I just–it felt wrong. The thought of losing you terrifies me. I fucked up.”</p><p>You slowly stopped pushing against Natasha, only crying more heavily as you listened to her.</p><p>“I love you,” Natasha confessed as she held you close, nose buried in your hair. It only made you sob harder because Natasha had never said it while you were dating. You had lived with the fact that she might never say it, but she showed you all the time that she cared about you.</p><p>“You broke my heart,” you whimpered against her shoulder.</p><p>Natasha simply held you closer, stroking your hair as she mumbled she was sorry and that she loved you.</p><p>You eventually pushed away, the tears subsiding. </p><p>“You knew from my past relationships that cheating is a non-negotiable for me. You can lie to me, you can scream and yell at me, you can even disappear for weeks on end, but cheating is something I can’t work out.”</p><p>Natasha’s face was falling as you were talking. </p><p>“I want to break up,” you say and watch as Natasha looks like she’s been punched in the gut. Her eyes water, and you’re a little surprised as you’ve also never seen her cry. </p><p>“Don’t,” Natasha pleads, a burning in the back of her throat as she looked you. “I can survive anything, but I can’t without you.”</p><p>You swallow painfully, “I know, but I can’t stay in this relationship without thinking about what you did. I can’t kiss you without thinking that you kissed her, touched her, almost slept with her.” </p><p>The tears that built up in Natasha’s eyes welled over and she nodded stiffly. She understood, hell, she might even agree with your choice. </p><p>Still, you stood there, taking in your now ex-girlfriend’s regretful and heartbroken face. You sighed.</p><p>“But,” you say and watch as Natasha snaps up to look at you. “I want to start over with you.”</p><p>The sheer relief that’s on Natasha’s face as she makes a move to pull you back into her arms and kiss you.</p><p>You stop her immediately with your hand up.</p><p>“I mean it, Nat. We’re starting over because even though I still love you and miss you like hell, I don’t trust you. We’re going to have to work through that.”</p><p>Natasha is nodding vigorously because fuck, this was better than nothing.</p><p>You give her a half-smile as she returns it with a sincere one of her own.</p><p>“Okay,” Natasha says. “What can I do right now?”</p><p>You adjust your bag on your shoulder and look around before looking back at her.</p><p>“Well, I’m not opposed to some coffee right now.” </p><p>⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⋆⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷</p><p>“Fuck, Steve. If you don’t get me there on time, she’ll throttle you. Then I will strangle you. You need to step on the gas.” Natasha says as she’s gripping around Steve’s waist tightly.</p><p>“Okay, okay! I’m going as fast as I can. I’m ripping 90 in a 60 zone right now.”</p><p>“Go faster! I highly doubt a cop will give Captain America a ticket.”</p><p>Steve grumbles something under his breath that Natasha hears but ignores it.</p><p>God, you really were going to kill her if she didn’t make it. </p><p>Steve ends up dropping her off with 28 seconds to spare. Natasha hops off, giving a slight salute to Steve as she books it in, weaving through people and even jumping over a coffee table.</p><p>Natasha lands right in front of you, slight huff in her breath. You raise your eyebrow at her, looking at your watch and giggling.</p><p>“Right on time with two seconds to spare. Impressive, Romanoff.” You tease her.</p><p>She grins at you, swooping down to kiss your cheek. </p><p>“Even a mission can’t keep me from making a date with you,” she replies suavely, and you nearly roll your eyes. </p><p>“Come on, my friend is about to open her first gallery.” You take hold of her hand and lead her towards the entrance.</p><p>It was a nice date, overall. Nothing extremely different or special for any reason. Natasha is walking you home, and you chat about some of the art pieces and people you met there. </p><p>It was nice.</p><p>It was normal. </p><p>She drops you off at your front door, kissing you goodnight as she’s about to make her own way home back to the tower.</p><p>Natasha hadn’t been allowed to stay the night with you since the incident. You were still both working on working out the issues, but it was progressing.</p><p>You stopped her before she could leave, grabbing onto her hand. Natasha looked back at you curiously.</p><p>“Stay the night,” you quietly say, licking your bottom lip as you looked at her. </p><p>She looked surprised, almost unsure.</p><p>“Are you sure?” She asks, and you nod.</p><p>“I think six months is punishment enough, don’t you?”</p><p>You grin which causes Natasha to smile as well before you drag her inside, stripping her down to nothing, and letting her fall atop of you.</p><p>Natasha is kissing your neck, peppering kisses all the way up until she’s nose to nose with you.</p><p>“I love you,” she whispers against your lips.</p><p>“Be mine,” you say, the feeling and tone exactly the way Natasha had said it once to you.</p><p>And it made Natasha’s heart flutter.</p>
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